Welcome toFC United of Manchester

FC United of Manchester is a community football club owned and democratically run by its
3821
members. Its corporate structure is a Community Benefit Society and membership is open to all, with everyone an equal co-owner, holding one voting share in the club.

FC United of Manchester ~ Development Fund and Fundraising

Ten Acres Lane Council Statement & Update

We ask supporters to read the whole of the following statement from Manchester City Council carefully.

’Manchester City Council has announced that the proposal to develop a football ground with community sports provision at Ten Acres Lane in partnership with FC United will be under review.

As a result of the challenging local government settlement, the Council has to ensure that any available resources are optimised and deliver the very best for Manchester. The Council has therefore had to revisit its spending plans and examine other opportunities for securing a football facility within the city.

The Council acknowledges the immense amount of energy, time and effort that FC United and its members have invested in the Ten Acres Lane proposal to date and remain absolutely committed to helping FC United achieve its ambition of building a new ground in time for the 2012-13 season.
It shares the club’s vision for improving and developing football and sports provision and to that end, the Council is seeking to examine the most financially viable solution for a ground and community football facilities in the city, which makes the most use of Council resources. The City Council will carry out detailed feasibility work to enable a preferred option to be brought forward.

The Council and FC United have committed to producing a detailed report within the next month outlining the preferred option and the benefits to the local community. The Council will continue to work with FC United to raise investment for funding from the Football Foundation, Sport England and any other external funding partners, in order to secure a strong community offer in Manchester.

Both parties are aware of the commitment and support shown for the Ten Acres Lane proposal by many thousands of people, not least the residents of Newton Heath and FC United’s members and the partners are committed to bringing forward a proposal which will benefit both community football and the residents of Manchester, while making the most of available Council resources.

Regardless of the outcome of the report, the Council remains committed to Ten Acres Lane and continuing with maintaining the community use of this facility. The Club and the Council will reveal full details of the preferred option for the stadium and the plans for Ten Acres Lane by the end of March 2011.

Eddie Smith, Chief Executive of New East Manchester said: "We have to review these proposals in the light of the funding cuts necessitated by the government’s settlement. But we remain committed to working closely with the club to examine options for plans which both meet their ambitions and deliver the widest possible community benefits."

Statement Ends’

We are sure the news that Ten Acres Lane is no longer a viable option will come as a considerable shock to our supporters as it did to the Board when we learnt of this development.

The Board called a meeting of members before our home game versus Mickleover Sports to address supporters concerns and answer any questions.

A summary of the those questions is now available on the members’ section of the website.

Supporters should note that the Council statement provides us with a number of commitments. It is these and other assurances that the Board are working hard to secure. It is our belief that as a result of our negotiations we now have commitments that are stronger than we had in place for Ten Acres Lane.

The emotional attachment we all felt to Ten Acres should not be underestimated. The Council appreciate that their decision means that the terms of the Community Share Scheme will need to be amended and a revised offer document issued. The Club has sent out a separate communication to all those members who have applied for Community Shares. We are satisfied that the Council have given the appropriate financial guarantees to ensure that the terms of the revised scheme will be at least equivalent to if not superior to those in the previous offer on Ten Acres Lane and that the proposed new site has the potential to deliver everything and more.

We ask supporters to remain patient and resilient in the coming days and weeks. There will be those within and outside our ranks that will question the future of this project. We stress, the Board remain fully committed to delivering a new home for FC United for the start of the 2012-13 season and no amount of setbacks will distract us from that pursuit.